A Promise is a Promise
by legobean
Summary: It's been several years since the fall of Voldemort. Ron and Hermione are finally getting married and it would seem that life has left Harry behind. A forgiven debt from a long time ago, might assist Harry in catching up as he deals with the promise he thought he'd never live to keep.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**__ Based on the works of JK Rowling. (That doesn't stand for Just Kidding, by the way, I checked!) The characters in this story are hers not mine. _

Chapter 1: There she was

And there she was.

It wasn't exactly like he'd been avoiding her. Not exactly like that at all. He'd been busy. Well and of course he'd promised Ron that he'd never kiss her. Well technically that he'd never grope her again, but the conversation echoed in his mind. _It'll NEVER happen again_. What a stupid thing to promise.

Of course at the time he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly. He'd been seventeen and full of hormones and just had the best kiss of his life. Not to mention he had a demented madman taking over the country who was personally intent on killing him. It was enough to make a bloke temporarily insane. Temporarily insane enough to promise to never entangle himself romantically with the great love of his life, clearly, hero or not, Harry Potter was an idiot. Now she was standing there, in kitchen of her childhood home wearing a Muggle mini-skirt. Always with the Muggle clothes this one. No wonder he'd been not quite avoiding her for the last five years. Legs like hers could give a bloke a heart attack.

Now he was standing just inside the doorway to the sitting room, watching her from the back like some pervert. Because to travel further into the kitchen would mean talking to her, something he steadfastly avoided at all costs, and turning and leaving would mean he wouldn't be able to watch her anymore.

"Unky Harry!" A devastating cute girl with a bob of curly blonde crashed into his leg with a giggle and attached herself, seemingly permanently, to it. This would make escaping much trickier.

"Hi sprog!" Harry smiled widely at the small girl. She was here for the same reason he was. The wedding rehearsal, she was the flower girl. He'd dropped the ring bearer off in the garden on his way in.

He looked up in time to see Ginny glance away from him and unreadable expression on her face. He was not so lucky when he turned to face Fleur. The very pregnant half Veela was smirking at him. Clearly stating that she knew everything, and she was going to start on him _again _as soon as they were out of Ginny's ear shot. Harry sighed. Why did Ron and Hermione have to get married now?

"Piggy back wide!" Victoire shouted.

"Okay, okay, sprog, hop on." Harry bent down so that the small girl could climb up his back. "Let's go find Teddy." She giggled wildly and she scrambled up Harry's back looping her slender arms around his neck. Harry risked one more glance at Ginny and found her watching him, a sad smile on her lips. He stood up and bounced towards the door eliciting shrieks from Victoire followed by still more giggles.

Fleur grinned evilly as they passed her and he whispered to her. "Not today, please?"

"Of course today, you are thinking I would let an opportunity like this pass by?"

He loved Fleur, but she really could be frightening sometimes. "Shouldn't you be helping Hermione with something?" Harry asked desperately.

"Shoo, it's time for girl talk," Fleur swatted him on his bum in fair imitation of encouraging a horse to move. "I shall speak with you later…"

The insinuation was clear. It was going to be another one of _those_ conversations. She'd only been nagging him at every turn for the last five years, to find a girl already. Why would today be any different?

He bounced out the door to find his Godson.

The rehearsal went well, as rehearsals always do. It's the wedding that always falls to pieces; the rehearsals always seem to go beautifully. Now they were having dinner after. It was interesting watching Hermione's parents. Harry had never met anyone who was so comfortable at not fitting in, as Hermione's parents seemed. The wedding was being held in hall near Hermione's parent's new home. This was to facilitate, having both Muggles and wizards being there at the same time. Thankfully, the guest list had been limited, to try and avoid any of the Muggles from realizing there were wizards there. The trade off had been that this was a Muggle wedding, and Mrs. Weasley had been caterwauling for months now about the fact that it was not a real wedding. A sentiment shared, albeit much more quietly with a large part of the rehearsal dinner's guests. The boisterous and often obnoxious crowd often took turns trying to amaze Hermione's parents, who seemed neither shocked nor overly impressed by the magic around them. Harry had asked Hermione's father, David, about this and he replied with a smile. "Once you've seen the things my daughter can do, not much else impresses you." Harry had to agree.

After the dinner started to break up, conversations flowed around the Burrow's garden, as groups stood around to catch up. The tables had mostly been deserted as the guests milled about. Harry was swirling a rather uninteresting glass of mead that he'd spent more time considering than actually drinking, thanking his lucky stars that most of the people at this gathering were rather used to him. It made sitting quietly at social gatherings much easier. Occasionally, someone would move over and attempt to engage him for a few minutes, before giving up and making some excuse to find more pleasant conversationalists. Sometimes Harry wished he was more socially adept, but most of the time, he just wished he was less popular to have at social gatherings. As twilight approached Harry was slowly slipping into the shadows, by pretending to be one.

"Umph" Fleur exhaled as she plopped about as ungracefully as he'd ever seen her into the chair next to him.

"Why are you not mingling in ze crowd?" Fleur asked.

"I'm staying here, where people are less inclined to gawk at me," Harry replied.

Fleur stared wide eyed at him raising her eyes not so subtly to his forehead in a fair imitation of most people's first glimpse of Harry Potter. Harry smirked at her and she laughed. "Eet is not so safe here, you see?"

Harry only nodded.

"I do not think that is why you sit here." Fleur stated after a moment. She was inspecting her fingernails, like there was some possible nick in the beautifully polished nails. Harry had yet to ever see that happen. "I think that you are afraid of talking to someone in particular."

"Why am I not surprised?" Harry asked.

"Because you are not a complete idiot…only mostly," Fleur replied evenly before she smiled and placed a hand on the back of Harry's neck. "You should talk to her."

"Who?" Harry asked despite the fact that he was well aware of whom Fleur was speaking.

Her hand tightened in the hair at the back of Harry's head. "Great Aunt Muriel of course, who did you think I was speaking of?" She gave him a rather sharp look. "Who does it help, this being alone all the time? Ron is moving out, you know. It will just be you in that ridiculous apartment."

"My apartment is not ridiculous," Harry replied defensively.

"You are neither a Muggle, nor a teenager, so you do not belong there. You definitely should not be sulking there alone."

"I don't sulk."

"What do you call this then?"

"Relaxing," Harry replied forcefully.

Fleur made a noise that sounded like a disbelieving snort, except that Veela do not snort, so Harry's ears must have been mistaken. "If you will not speak to her, then I think I shall tell Gabrielle that you are freely available for the wedding."

Harry glanced at Fleur in a panic. "What?"

"Gabrielle is coming, _unescorted. _She has been asking if you would be attending alone. I told her I did not know, but now I am thinking I will give her a Floo call in the morning. She has been waiting to try her Veela charm on you since my wedding. You were rather hard to find in your silly disguise." Fleur replied airily.

"But she's a child!"

Fleur gave him a thoroughly reproachful look. She's will be seventeen in two months time. Old enough I think to decide who exactly she wishes to pursue romantically."

"But she's still in school!" Harry sputtered.

"Don't worry Harry, Beauxbatons has no silly rules about staying at ze school. Any student old enough to Apparate can stay wherever zey like. I'm sure she could find plenty of opportunities to see you."

"That's not the point!"

"Were you making a point, 'arry?"

"Why would you want me involved with your sister?" Harry hopped he didn't sound too horrified. He quite liked Fleur. Even her sister had seemed nice on the few occasions he had spoken to her, just really young.

Fleur sighed. "Harry you are my very good friend, and I love you. But it is always one of two things with you, work or Quidditch. I think you are never truly happy, you just feel your life is happy enough. But this can only be, because you do not understand what it means to be with someone you truly love. I want you to be happy, but also you come to our house for dinner usually at least once a week, and I always love to see you. But Teddy plays with Victoire and you and Bill talk Quidditch or Politics or Auror training. Eet was interesting for a while, but now I think it would be better if you had a woman with you for me to talk to." Fleur paused for a moment. "My sister, she is an excellent conversationalist." Fleur smirked at him. "If nothing else the two of you could have fascinating conversations. Conversing while you are naked, eet is an…invigorating…experience."

"Fleur!" Harry squawked.

"You should not try it right away of course. You should practice with the clothes on I think. Maybe then you will be more comfortable."

Harry was quite sure the heat from his face was going to cause the table in front of them to burst into flames at any moment.

"Well," Fleur started as she wobbled unsteadily in her attempt to stand up. "I must find my 'usband. Eet is getting late, and I wish to go home. Have a good evening, 'arry. Gabrielle will be staying with us tomorrow if you would like to stop by and ask to be her escort properly, or you can wait until the wedding. I know you will be quite busy."

Before Harry could even start to answer, Fleur walked into the deepening darkness. Her shimmering hair and bulging belly made it difficult for her to get lost in the silhouettes.

Harry was just thinking that perhaps he should head back to his room when another silhouette broke away and headed for him. He knew instantly who it was and he took a deep breath, although he didn't know why, as she approached.

"Hi Harry,"

"Hello," That was such a terrifically lame thing to say. Why couldn't he think of something suave?

"Where's Teddy?" Ginny asked.

"Oh he and Andromeda headed home right after dinner," Harry replied.

"You're really terrific with him, you know?"

Harry grinned. "He's easy."

"Maybe, but your good with Tori too. I think maybe you're just good dad material."

"Maybe," Harry agreed reluctantly

"So, are you taking Ron out tomorrow night?"

Harry's grin disappeared. "Um…why do you ask?"

"Well because if you are, then someone needs to distract Hermione. You know how she feels about that kind of stuff. But if your not, then I don't have worry about some lame thing to keep Hermione busy tomorrow night."

"Uh, well…I mean it's just a few drinks, and …"

"I don't need details, okay?" Ginny interrupted. "Yes or no, to the distracting Hermione thing is good enough"

"Yes." Harry nodded.

Ginny nodded in reply.

"Why are you helping?" Harry finally asked.

"Because it's my brother, and he should live it up a little. A _little_, mind you, but he's only going to get married this one time. I don't want him and Hermione rowing on their wedding day, and really I think she's blowing the whole stag night thing out of proportion. I know you wouldn't let Ron get himself into any real trouble. Can I trust that if I help you, that you won't let anything upsetting happen?"

"Of course, Ginny," Harry said sincerely.

"Good." Ginny plopped unceremoniously down in the chair beside him and appeared to want to chew her fingernails for a minute before she sat on both her hands. Harry was momentarily distracted by the leg showing at the bottom of her mini-skirt as she sat down. "Can you believe it's taken them this long to finally get married?"

"I think I can understand. We've been so busy the last few years. Ron and I in Auror training, it's not like they saw each other that much. It'll be interesting to see how they survive since neither of them like to do household chores and Ron's become rather reliant on Kreacher."

"How is Kreacher?" Ginny asked

"Oh, you know, slightly barmy, but always exceedingly cheerful as long as there's plenty to do."

"I really don't know. I've heard all of you talking about him, but I've only seen him a couple of times since …well, it's just hard to picture him as being really friendly."

"He still has a foul mouth at times, but he really is a very nice elf. Sometimes I wish he wasn't quite so dedicated."

"Is Hermione still trying to free him?" Ginny asked.

"Of course," Harry shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what to do about it. He wails inconsolably whenever anybody talks about giving him clothes. I'd much rather pay him to be honest, or let some other family pay him. He's going to be a lot of elf, when it's just me."

"Do you really have more free time? I mean now that you're out of the Auror academy?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess eventually, I spend a lot of time at work. It's six days on, and my only off day I spend with Teddy. I've been putting in a lot of training hours after my shift. McKinnon says that I'm going to either get killed or get Higgins killed during this first year. I'm trying to prove him wrong."

"When do I get to meet this mysterious Higgins?"

"Probably on Saturday, Ron couldn't very well not invite my partner to the wedding, could he?" Harry replied.

"I was just curious, if, you know, you might be around more. I've hardly seen you…well for a long time…and" Ginny was staggering through the question in obvious discomfort.

Harry stopped her. "I honestly don't know." He'd like nothing more than to see more of Ginny Weasley, but he didn't need the distraction. He really didn't want to get Higgins killed this year. And then there was the promise…

"Oh," The stony mask that Ginny had worn around him all the time broke for a moment and she frowned in the moonlight. She quickly recovered. "So what was Fleur badgering you about earlier?"

Harry felt himself blush slightly. "Er, she was trying to set me up with her sister."

"Gabrielle?" Ginny asked inhaling sharply.

"Right in one." Harry nodded.

"So, when are you two going out?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "We're not. It's just Fleur. She's always got some scheme to find a woman for me. You'd think nobody could ever be happy by themselves to hear her tell it."

Ginny scoffed. "It isn't like _you _of all people need help. You could have pretty much any girl you wanted. All you'd have to do is ask."

"Right, because I have such a history as a ladies man." Harry laughed.

"Harry girls literally fall all over each other trying to get a single evening with you. If you wanted to have a fling it'd be easy enough. If you wanted… something more substantial, I don't reckon it'd be a bother to find that either."

Harry was not prepared to have this conversation, with _this_ girl. He decided to shift subjects. "Well what about you. You must have the men lining up."

Ginny shrugged. "It's not like that."

"What's it like then?"

"I just, I don't want to get tangled up with some guy in case things change."

"Things?"

Ginny shot him a look with such anger, and pain behind it he didn't know what to make of it. "Yes. _THINGS_."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence. Harry wasn't stupid, she was clearly waiting for something from him. After five years she was still waiting. Such a stupid promise, he really was an idiot.

"It's just that," Ginny started hesitantly. "I know you broke up with me at Dumbledore's funeral. So I get it, we weren't a couple anymore. I thought I understood what you were trying to do. You didn't have time to think about a girlfriend because you were trying to stop Voldemort. I wish I could have gone with you, girlfriend or no, but I wasn't of age and my tracker, would have made it impossible for me to do magic and stay hidden. So I was resigned to going back to Hogwarts and waiting. It was hard, but it wasn't exactly a time when people were going to be going and finding knew people to fall in love with, when anyone could be a Death Eater. Nobody trusted anybody. Then Fred was killed at Hogwarts, and Tonks and Lupin, and, God, I was a mess. I know how much you hate crying women Harry, I do, but I couldn't help it. You were so good, that whole summer, I could never have gotten through it without you. I'd have had a break down or something. But you were always there, every day, I just got used to it. I mean I we never kissed or anything, but you held my hand when I needed it, you hugged me when I needed it, and you told me exactly what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it. I never expected you could be so... I mean you had your own stuff you were going through, and I was so focused on what _I_ had lost. But I thought we'd gotten closer. Then I left for school and you turned into a ghost. Your letters became so impersonal. I'd hoped maybe you come for a Hogsmeade weekend, but nope. They finally let me leave Hogwarts I hoped you might want to see me, but it's been two years. It's like you're avoiding me." Ginny hugged herself, the goose pimples shining in the moonlight.

She didn't look at him throughout her narration. Ginny was watching the tablecloth. Harry was at a loss for what to say. "Ginny, I've never forgotten. I wanted to see you, but I just can't."

"Why?" she asked turning to face him. Her eyes glistening even in the low light.

"I just can't."

"That's not good enough, Harry. I need to know _why_. Do you not feel anything for me anymore? Is that it?"

"No, that's not it. It's just a promise is a promise, and I can't."

"_Never_?" Ginny asked in exasperation.

Harry nodded.

"What the hell kind of promise did you make?" Ginny demanded.

"I …I can't say." That was a lie, he could say, he just couldn't bear to say.

"Why can't you say?" Ginny persisted.

"I just can't." Harry sighed deeply. "Look I'll meet you after the wedding, and I'll tell you everything, I promise." _Why do I keep making promises?_ "But I can't tell you right now."

Ginny glared at him. "_Everything_?"

"Well everything about this," Harry replied, now positive he'd made another huge mistake. At least Ron would be on his honeymoon and Ginny would have some time to cool down.

"It better be good."

Harry raised his hands helplessly. "I can only promise the truth."

"Will you stop avoiding me until then?"

"I haven't been avoiding you," Harry replied defensively.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "The truth, remember?"

"It's true, I really have been insanely busy. I've mostly not been avoiding you. It's not like you're so easy to track down. You spend more time in the air than most clouds."

"Well you're going to know where I am all day tomorrow and Saturday. I expect you to talk to me, and to look me in the eye until you tell me whatever your deep dark secret is."

"All right," Harry replied groaning internally. Looking Ginny in the eye was like throwing lit matches at a pile of dynamite, eventually something explosive was going to happen and if you were lucky, all you'd be missing is a few fingers.

Ginny grinned. "And you'll dance with me at the wedding?"

"What?" Harry sputtered. "How does _that_ have anything to do with this?" Dancing was definitely a bad idea, holding Ginny Weasley was even more dangerous than looking at her.

"_Harry_?" Ginny said warningly.

"But that's completely off the topic!"

"You promised to stop being a prat, or whatever it is, until you'd tell me the truth. If you're not going to dance with me at the wedding, then I want the truth now."

"Okay, okay, I'll dance with you at the wedding. Any other riders you want to attach to this agreement." Harry replied irritably.

Ginny gave him the most mischievous grin he'd seen from her since they'd stopped being a couple. "I'm sure I'll think of something." She replied before leaning over and kissing him lightly on the cheek. She giggled before jumping up and dashing towards the house. "Night Harry!" she called over her shoulder.

Clearly this was going to be trouble.

_**A/N**__: So yeah, here we go, I wrote this a long time ago. A really long time ago, but I've got the urge to do a little writing and I've only got about 20,000 words left until I think this will be done and it's November so I want to give it a shot. With a little inspiration I might just make it. Wish us luck_. _A couple of warnings, I don't have a beta for this, so it's going to be pretty rough. I'm rusty and I was never all that good to begin with. So read with caution. This is largely a Harry and Gabrielle story, although there's a fair share of Ginny thrown in here too. May eventually get switched to a rated M, but nothing in the first 30,000 words deserves it. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Drunken Confession**

Ron was drunk. It was not unique to him. Seamus, Dean, and all of Ron's brothers were also drunk. Even Neville who Harry had only seen drink on two other occasions was pissed. Neville who was apprenticing with professor Sprout to take over the Herbology post at Hogwarts, was currently entangled with a half naked woman almost young enough to be one of his students. Neville was probably the most responsible person Harry knew, and he assumed he would be spending his evening talking to Neville while the boys partied it up. But alas, Harry was sitting at their table alone.

"Need some company?"

Harry glanced up as a barely dressed woman strolled by and ran her finger nails across the back of his neck and down his arm.

"Erm, no, I'm fine," Harry's voice sounded unnaturally high, as it had each time this event had occurred during the evening.

"Well you look lonely." The girl dropped into his lap without so much as asking his permission. He realized that he could feel almost every part of her as she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him. "What's your name, pretty eyes?"

"I'm Harry," Harry said haltingly.

"Hi Harry, I'm Jasmine. Why don't we share a drink, Harry? What are you having?"

"Erm, water."

"Water? What's the fun in water? Let me order you a real drink."

"That's okay, I'm not really in the mood for drinking."

"What's wrong? Bright boy over there steal your girl?" Jasmine asked him.

It took him a moment to realize that she was nodding at Neville. Harry laughed. "No, I don't have a girl."

"Oh, well, no wonder you're upset. I can be your girl for tonight, luv," She traced her finger down the side of Harry face. He suddenly very much felt the urge to stand up.

"Um, I need to go talk to my friend," Harry stated uncomfortably as he attempted to remove the dancer from his lap.

"Oh, all right, well, let me know if you decide you want to have a good time."

Harry quickly darted over to where Ron was burning through vouchers like he was getting married tomorrow. Harry sat down next to him, far too close to the stage for Harry's liking. He attempted not look, but it was like trying not to look at a transfiguration mishap, too fascinating not to look, to much information when he did look. The current entertainment had a tattoo that wound up her body like a snake. He shivered as he remembered that Bellatrix Lestrange reportedly had a very similar tattoo. If those reports were to be believe Bellatrix's had apparently responded to Parseltongue.

"Ron, um, don't you think we should be going?" Harry yelled to his friend over the techno music.

"What? Why?"

"Oh, I don't know, because you're getting married tomorrow. Because you're drunk, and because if Hermione hears about this, she will kill you," Harry answered.

"I'm not drunk!" Ron replied defensively, his features contorting into an attempted frown, before returning to the normal hapless expression he always had when drunk.

"Right," Harry grunted. "Look, you've got a big day tomorrow. I don't want it to be ruined because you spent all night out acting…well…lecherous."

"Lessurous?" Ron slurred. "Lighten up Harry. You need a couple drinks. I'm getting…I'm get…you're not…" Ron trailed off, then shook his head. "I'm getting married tomorrow, not yous, why are youstill soberer?"

"I promised Ginny I'd keep an eye you. She's distracting Hermione so you can have this little soiree. She'll hex me good if you're hung over and smell anything like you do now, tomorrow."

"Ginny's my sisssster!" Ron declared.

Harry sighed, this was like talking to a particularly thick Irish setter. "Yes, I know."

"Shhhe wouldn't hex you. She still liiikess yous even though yer a git."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, well be that as it may. I promised her I'd get you home in decent condition. I don't break promises, so can we please get out of here?"

"I don't wanna go home yet," Ron whined. He looked as cleverly as possible at Harry given his current condition. "I'll tell you what. We can go home in an hour, if you'll loosssen and have a coup…coup…" Ron held up hand, "two drinksss," he slurred, even though he was holding up three fingers.

Harry groaned as his rolled his head back in frustration. This turned out to be a mistake as there was an attractive but rapidly disrobing woman dancing directly in front of him. He was definitely going to need to wash his eyes later, he'd never seen a nude woman in person before tonight, and for some reason he didn't think this was how you were supposed to see one for the first time. Harry whipped his head back around to Ron. "Fine, one hour."

"I'll get the drinksss!" Ron volunteered cheerfully, before tumbling out of his seat.

Harry watched him wander towards the bar and shook his head. Maybe a couple of drinks might make this night bearable. The woman on stage seemed determined to get his attention as he ignored her. Finally he threw her a handful of vouchers to see if she would go away. It turned out to be a mistake as she performed a particularly graphic act in front of him, before she danced over to another customer. Harry shuddered and closed his eyes, wondering how he was ever going to get that image burned from his brain. Maybe Hermione would Obliviate him if he asked her nicely.

"Harrykins!" George and Charlie plopped into chairs on either side of him.

He looked suspiciously at them. "What?"

"Well poor, all hope is lost, Ron informed us that you have agreed to relax a bit," George explained.

"And he told us, that you agreed to have three drinks." Charlie added.

"It was two drinks!" Harry protested.

George looked at Charlie and held up his hand. "How many is this again?" George asked.

"That's three," Charlie nodded.

"Right, three drinks." George agreed. Harry groaned, but George ignored him. "So, Charlie and I volunteered, out of the goodness of our hearts, to fetch them for you. We would be remiss if we let a thirsty man stay parched."

Charlie dropped one rather large amber colored drink on the table and George put one on the other side that was a florescent blue-green color. "Drink up, Harrykins."

Harry decided that Charlie's must be the safer of the two offered drinks and took a tentative sip. Harry's tongue burned harshly and his eyes began to water. He choked and the liquid slid down his throat causing it to feel as if it was on fire, and his eyes to water profusely. Charlie and George just grinned at him widely. "What is that?" Harry gasped when he was capable of speaking again.

"It's called Dragon's Breath we used to drink it at the Dragon preserve," Charlie explained.

"And people drink this recreationally?" Harry gasped.

"Well, mostly people just drink it when they have a really bad burn. You won't feel anything much for a while."

Sure enough after the second sip Harry could no longer feel most of his mouth and his throat didn't hurt anymore. "What's that?" Harry asked pointing to the drink George had brought.

"Oh, that?" George replied. "It's called Last Call, it was invented by my dearly departed twin. It's great when you meet a girl late in the evening, and want to make sure she warms up to you." George grinned, as Harry shook his head.

He'd taken a few more sips as Charlie and George attracted the attention of the latest performer by dropping large numbers of vouchers in front of the trio. Harry found he didn't mind so much now. He looked around. "Where's Ron?" Harry asked.

"Oh don't worry about him," George replied. "He took a little trip to the VIP lounge."

"Oh, good, as, long as he's not doing anything inappropriate." Harry nodded wisely. "I promised Ginny I'd watch out for him.

"Yeah speaking of Ginny, what's up with you and Ginny?" Charlie asked rather harshly.

"Me?" Harry asked after a rather large gulp from the amber drink. "Nothing'ssss up with me and Gimy."

"Why is that again?" George asked casually. "I thought you two had a thing for each other. Well that's what Ron says anyway. What are you waiting for?"

"It'sss complicated."

"Why?" George asked.

"Becaussse, she'sss hot!" Harry explained. Charlie and George both winced.

"I'd think that would simplify things?" Charlie questioned.

Harry shook his head. "It'sss hard to get over her…Ssshe'ss got freckles!" Harry was afraid he wasn't being clear. "n'red hair," he clarified.

"Right," George nodded. "So, why not just ask her out, I'm almost positive she'd say yes."

"Can't" Harry shook his head.

"Why not?" George asked in exasperation. Harry wasn't sure he'd seen George exasperated, before. He wondered what was bothering him.

"Promisssed Ron," Harry mumbled.

"Oh, really?" George looked rather mutinous. "Ron made you promise not to go out with Ginny?"

"Yep!" Harry nodded, proud that he'd made them understand.

George grunted angrily. "If you'll excuse me, I need to extricate my brother from the VIP room."

"I don't think he'll like that!" Harry volunteered.

"I'll be sure he doesn't," George answered rolling up his sleeves, and stomping away from the table.

Almost two hours latter, Harry tumbled out of the fireplace and crashed into the floor with an "Oomphf." It felt rather uncomfortable. Ron stumbled out of the fireplace, and landed on top of him, and Harry though perhaps it hadn't been so uncomfortable before.

"Geroff" Harry groaned.

Ron and Harry untangled themselves as Ginny came running down the stairs. "What is wrong with you two?" she hissed. "Everyone's asleep!" Ginny ran down the last few steps and Harry stared mesmerized by the bare legs being exposed by her rather short night dress. _Mmmm freckles._

"Harry?" Ginny asked questioningly. When Harry didn't respond quickly enough she kicked him in the leg causing him to break eye contact with her legs.

"Hi!" Harry said. "I'm drunk!"

Ginny giggled. "You don't say?"

"Yep."

Ginny gasped loudly. "Ron what happened to your face?" she whispered fiercely.

"A fist hit it." Ron squinted. "I think."

"You were fighting?" Ginny asked angrily.

"I don't thinksso," Ron answered shaking his head. "Were we?" he asked Harry.

Harry shook his head. "I wasssn't fighting."

"Merlin, Hermione is going to kill the lot of us," Ginny muttered.

"Widgybudgy's here?" Ron asked his face brightening.

"Widgybudgy?" Ginny and Harry mouthed at each other.

"No, Hermione is at her parent's house. But when she sees that shiner, we better make sure she doesn't have her wand."

Ron attempted to stand up, but ended up falling back over and crashing noisily into the floor.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Ginny sighed. Ron grinned but as he tried to get up again Ginny pointed her wand at him. "_Siestus_," she said as she flicked her wand at Ron. Ron slumped to the floor with a grunt, and let out a loud snore. Ginny levitated him off the floor and then turned as she started walking up the stairs. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

"Kay," Harry answered. He put his head down on the floor, but it caused the room spin so he rolled over on his stomach, and it thankfully stopped. He rested his head on the floor and waited. Ginny seemed to be gone a long time. Harry was almost asleep when she came back. He noticed as he rolled over to face her that she had put on a long robe.

"I thought you promised me you'd keep him out of trouble?" Ginny asked. She didn't sound angry, mostly disappointed. Harry would have preferred angry.

"Sorry," Harry said helplessly and sincerely. "I think your brothersss tricksed me."

"Which ones?"

"All of them, Ron wouldn't leave unlesss I had a drink. Charlie gave me sssomethink called Dragon's Breasts. George's tasted better, but I think it broke my head. I'm really sorry." Harry scrunched up his face trying to make her understand how very sorry he really was.

Ginny leaned over him and brushed her finger tips across his face. "I'll forgive you," she whispered so quietly Harry wasn't sure she'd really said it. "Come on, let's get you up to your room," she said more firmly.

She helped Harry off the floor and he leaned on her heavily as she guided him up the stairs. He marveled at how strong she was, while feeling so soft under her robe at the same time. He found his face pressed against the top of her head as they slowly climbed the steps. Harry took a deep breath, catching the flowery scent that meant Ginny. "You smell good," Harry told her. She didn't respond, but she did tighten her grip on him as they finally reached the landing. Ginny guided him in his room and forced him to stand still for a moment while she wrestled him out of his robes. Then she pushed him backwards onto his bed.

"Goodnight Harry, I hope you feel okay in the morning." Ginny kissed the tips of her fingers and then ran them over his cheek.

"You're so bea…bea…b…you're pretty. You have freckles on your legs."

"Thank you Harry, please don't forget to tell me that tomorrow, when you're sober," Ginny replied with a sigh.

"Okay," Harry agreed.

Harry's body tingled as Ginny ran her fingers through his hair. "Goodnight," she whispered as she turned and quickly exited his room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Mother of the Groom

"Mum I can't possibly eat all this, I'm barely fitting into the bridesmaid dress Hermione picked as it is!"

"Dresses! At a wedding, it's a disgrace, is what it is!" Her mother replied.

"Muggles always get married in dresses Mum," Ginny replied tiredly. She'd been like this for weeks, it had passed aggravating long ago.

"Muggles aren't really married!" her mum wailed.

"Of course they are," Ginny soothed.

"But they can get divorced. It's not really marriage if you can end it any time you want!"

"They won't get a divorced Mum, they love each other."

"What about their children. What a horrible example to set, their parents not being married!"

"Mum! Listen, you have to stop this. You are alienating Hermione, by disrespecting her family's traditions. I know you don't want Hermione thinking ill of you. But if you don't stop she's going to resent you."

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, how dare you say such a thing to me!" Her mother shouted back in horror. "I would never hurt Hermione

"Mum, do you remember all the problems you had with Grandmum? How you hated going over there because of all the comments and criticism?" Ginny asked carefully.

"That's completely different. Arthur's mother was a very unpleasant woman!"

"Mum, you are doing the same thing to Hermione."

"I most certainly am not! What is wrong with you today?"

Ginny sighed. This was apparently pointless, and she had places she needed to be. She put her fork down and pushed her plate away as her Mum said. "At least when you get married it will be in a proper ceremony by a wizard and not some crazy Muggle."

"Not today, Mum, please?" Ginny begged.

"Well, when are you going to get married? You can't play Quidditch forever Ginny, it's not a proper career for a lady."

"I don't know. I'm still working on the whole boyfriend part. I've got years to get married."

"Now Ginny, you want to be sure you find someone before your looks go. Maybe you should try saying yes to more of the offers you get for dates…"

Ginny stared flabbergasted at her mother. "I've got to go, Mum. We'll be starting Hermione's hair and makeup soon." She really hoped her mother might become a normal person again after the wedding was over. She really couldn't handle too much more of this version.

She grabbed her bags off the chair next to her, and headed for the door. When she opened the door she found George coming in. "I didn't expect to see you here so early?"

"Oh yeah, well I thought I better get over here with some bruise remover, before Mum sees Ron."

"Good plan, what happened to him anyway?" Ginny asked slipping out the door and closing it behind her.

"I decked him," George admitted.

"Why?" Ginny prompted for the rest of the story.

"Well," George replied looking uncomfortable. "Harry was drunk you see."

"Yeah I saw that. They stumbled in about three in the morning. Sounded like a heard of Erumpets." Ginny nodded.

"Well Harry's tongue got a bit freer, and so Charlie and I, well we sort of asked him, why he doesn't ever go out with any girls." George's face turned red. It was a very uncommon occurrence, so Ginny knew this had to be good. "Specifically, why he's never picked things up with you."

"You didn't?" Ginny gasped. George only nodded. "What did he say?" George opened his mouth to answer and Ginny shook her head. "No wait, don't tell me." She fretted for a moment.

Harry was supposed to tell her in just a couple days, did she really want to know what he'd said while drunk? Yes, definitely. "Okay what did he say?"

"He said that he'd promised Ron he wouldn't go out with you anymore," George replied.

"HE WHAT?" Ginny yelled.

"Yeah I know, that's why I decked him. What business of it is Ron's to have Harry make a promise like that? I know how hard it's been on you since the war." George her never serious brother reached out and wrapped an arm around her, her bags preventing him from getting closer. "I just couldn't believe that Ron would do something that's hurt both his sister and his best friend so much. I was really steamed."

"I'll kill him," Ginny sputtered throwing down her bags. She removed her wand from her pocket and turned to go back inside, homicide foremost on her mind, when George grabbed her.

"Ginny, I already hit him. I know you're mad but he's getting married today. Kill him tomorrow."

Ginny felt like she might explode. Five years of longing…Ron…The Cruciatus curse was too good for him. She was going to tell Hermione, that would fix his wagon.

"Deep breaths Ginny," George said soothingly. "Calm down and relax for a bit. If you promise not to kill Ron until he gets back from his honeymoon, I'll tell you what else Harry said about you."

Ginny mind whirled around. "There's more?"

"A little, yeah."

"What?" Ginny demanded.

George smirked at her, looking more like himself than he had she'd seen him during the entire conversation. "Well he let something slip while explaining why it was that he'd had a hard time living up to his promise."

Ginny motioned for him to continue.

George grinned. "He thinks you're hot." George laughed, apparently waiting for her blush.

Ginny however was not embarrassed. "That's it?"

"Well that and he likes your freckles," George nodded clearly disappointed by her lack of reaction. "You don't care that he thinks you're hot?"

"No, it's not that," Ginny explained shaking her head. "It's just, well I got that news last night already. It was nice to hear, but I mean, he was drunk, he'd probably think anyone was pretty."

A white otter flashed into existence and ran up to them. "Ginny! Where are you? We were supposed to start with my hair twenty minutes ago? We are completely off the schedule!" Hermione's voice admonished her.

"Oh bollocks, I've got to go! I'm supposed to be with Hermione by now!" She scrambled to pick her bags back up and lurched the last few steps the Apparation point. "See you later George!" she called, and then disappeared.

* * *

"Harry get up!" Yelled a voice, and was immediately followed by pounding. Harry was at a loss why someone would be using the Sonorus spell right outside his bedroom. Harry groaned and tried to roll over, but the pain was excruciating. His door opened and Charlie's head popped through the opening. "Harry it's almost eleven, you need to start getting ready. We've only got two hours until we leave."

"Charlie?" Harry groaned.

"Come on, up Harry."

"I'm up, will you quit pounding already?"

"Pounding? I'm not…oh, hangover, eh? You know what'll fix that right up? A little hair of the dog that bit yah," Charlie tossed a flask towards Harry and it landed gently on the bed.

Harry couldn't even look at the flask, if he did, he would throw up. He knew it. "No thanks," Harry moaned.

"Suit yourself, but Mum, says no more lying about, or she's not feeding you. She's not real supportive about hangovers, so it's either that," Charlie said indicating the flask. "Or you put a bright smile on your face, and pretend you're not sick."

Harry groaned. "Shower."

"Move it. You can't expect sympathy if you're out all night carousing and drinking."

"But…" Harry started.

"Five minutes, and you should be down stairs, or I'm sending Mum up to lecture you!" Charlie called wheeling around and heading away from his door.

Harry felt slightly better after his shower. However the large breakfast that had been placed in front of him was bringing back the heaves. He stared at it mournfully. All his favorites, and they looked so … disgusting.

"Eat up," Charlie whispered to his right. "If you don't Mum will start asking questions."

Harry picked up a triangle of toast and started munching on the corner of it. It wasn't quite as offensive as he had feared. He was cautiously optimistic that he might pull this off, until Charlie whispered angrily. "The eggs Harry, eat the eggs quickly before she says something!"

"Are you feeling all right Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked from the kitchen looking at him skeptically.

"Sure am, Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled at her. It actually made his head hurt worse to smile, pictures were definitely going to be a nightmare. Harry shoveled a bite of eggs into his mouth. "MMMM, good eggs." Mrs. Weasley turned around and Harry gagged badly. While he was occupied trying to get his eggs to stay down Ron plopped into the chair next to him. Harry glanced up at him. Ron looked a little rough around the edges but for the most part seemed to be in much better shape than Harry. It must have been all those evenings Ron had gone out with all the other Auror students while Harry stayed home.

"What happened to your shiner?" Harry asked

Harry whimpered in pain as a fist from each of the Weasleys sitting next to him connected with his arms just below the shoulder. Neither had pulled their punch and his arms felt like they were on fire.

"Shiner? Where you boys fighting?" Mrs. Weasley asked turning around.

"No Mum, George, Ron and Charlie all answered." Mrs. Weasley frowned at them momentarily and then returned to her cleaning.

Harry sucked in a deep breath. He whispered to Ron, "But I remember that. Who hit you anyway, you were fine when you went to the bar, and then my memory is fuzzy, but you came back like a half hour later with that purple bruise and that dancer wrapped—" Harry let out a yelp of pain as once again the brothers on either side of him punched him in the exact spot they'd hit him before. He was still sore for the last time, and he clenched his teeth tightly as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Were you boys out dancing last night?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Uh…yeah we met up with Katie and Tameka and went out for a bit," George lied.

"I didn't know you'd learned to dance, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, a pleased expression on her face. "How nice, I'm sure Ginny will be happy to hear that. She'll need a partner this evening."

Harry let his head bang against the table. He had never learned to dance. The fact that it would be required later today had completely slipped his mind until yesterday. Unfortunately, with all the pain in his arms he'd forgotten how badly his head was hurting and the contact with the table was a sharp reminder.

Harry stood from the table with a groan. "Harry you've barely touched your breakfast. You're going to have a very long day and you need your strength," Mrs. Weasley admonished.

"I'll take care of it," Ron volunteered scooping Harry's rashers and eggs off onto his own plate."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley, I'm full."

"Well no need to apologize. You're so thin; you need to come home more, so we can get you eating properly. If you're done you can go help Arthur finish setting up for the reception. In fact all of you should be helping Arthur. Making him set up by himself while all of you sit in here eating," Mrs. Weasley began shooing them out of the kitchen with her dishtowel.

"Mum, I'm eating!" Ron protested as she whacked him with her dishtowel.

"You rotten boys, making your father do all the work," Mrs. Weasley grumbled as she chased the boys out of the house, finally wrestling Ron's plate away from him. "Don't let me see you in the house until the garden is ready for the reception!"

"But, I'm the one who's getting married," Ron groused.

They had put in several days hard labor in getting the Burrow's garden ready for the various events. Harry was given the task of conjuring white chairs for the reception while the rest worked on organizing the rest of the furniture.

"Objecto Renario," Harry uttered swirling his wand around in a circle for what seemed like the five hundredth time. It was actually closer to two hundred based on the chairs surrounding the tables.

"Come on Harry, our cousins Kate, Sarah and Emily will be here in a bit to do the decorations and flower arrangements. It's time to head over to Cambridge."

Harry nodded gratefully and followed the Weasley brothers back to the house.

* * *

George got up to answer the knock at the door. Then came wandering back to Harry and glared at him. "It's for you."

"What? Harry asked. He was feeling marginally better. His headache however seemed to be getting worse and the war drums beating in his head were getting closer.

"It's for you genius boy." George turned to Charlie. "What's with him today anyway?"

"Hung over," Charlie explained.

"Didn't you give him something for it?" George asked, as Harry stood and made his way to the door.

"He didn't want it. You know how he is, always trying to be a hero," Charlie replied. Harry pulled a face at Charlie's comment. Was not wanting to be slightly tipsy at your best friends wedding, really playing the hero?

Harry pushed the door open and blinked. "Uh," Harry stammered.

"Hi!" Ginny greeted him cheerfully, and gave him a shy smile. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Wow," Harry replied cleverly.

Ginny's forehead creased as she looked at him with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"You look…" Harry started. He was sure there was more he was supposed to add, but it seemed he didn't know any words that actually described how Ginny looked. Or at least if he did, they were unable to escape his brain in his current condition. Her hair was swept up in a knot at the back of her head escaping in little ringlets of red and copper, and she had some sort of flowers braided into the front. Harry blushed as he realized he still hadn't finished his sentence and was staring at a spot on her neck where an escaped tendril of hair was bouncing lightly. "Wow," he said again.

Ginny waved a hand in front of him. "I was afraid of this," Ginny said. "Stupid brothers," she grumbled. Ginny linked her arm through his tuxedo jacket, and started leading him away. "Come on, I have something fix this right up."

Ginny led him to a non-descript door, in a secluded hallway. Opening it without reservation she pushed him inside. There was a small cauldron bubbling on the desk as well as another already prepared potion sitting in goblet next to it. Ginny pulled him to the desk and handed him the goblet. "Here drink this, it'll help."

"What is it?" Harry asked, still staring openly her. She looked so incredible he just couldn't stop.

She fidgeted slightly under his bold stare. "It's just a little something to help the effects of the hangover. I know you don't drink very often, and you were rather pissed last night. I know Mum won't help out with a hangover and since my brothers are nit-wits I sort of thought they probably wouldn't have thought to bring you something to help either. Unless of course they tried to talk you into drinking more booze. That doesn't work by the way." She smiled at him, so openly and encouragingly that Harry had to take the foul smelling potion and doing his best not to smell or taste it, he quaffed it as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, he gagged badly on the on aftertaste. Struggling to get himself under control he handed the goblet back to Ginny. She quickly filled the goblet with the other potion. She was blowing on it to cool it off, as it had still been boiling. Ginny killed the flames under the cauldron and cleaned off the rest of the supplies from the desk. Harry was feeling remarkably better in the few minutes he'd had between potions. Ginny finished cleaning up the desk she'd borrowed from someone named Angelina Houston apparently given the name plate. She ran the new potion around the inside of the goblet a few more times continuing to blow on it, before she handed it to him.

"Here, this will fix the headache. Sorry it isn't cooler, I can't use magic to cool it without dampening the effects, and I only had so much time." She shrugged in what Harry thought was an adorable way.

He took the goblet, and testing that it was not quite a drinkable temperature yet continued to blow on the surface and swirl it around. "I can't believe you did all this for me," Harry said quietly.

Ginny blushed slightly and looked away as she answered. "I just didn't want you feeling awful all day because of my brothers. They're your best friends you should remember today happily." She turned a looked up at him with a grim smile on her face. "I brewed the first one while Hermione was getting her hair done. She's getting her makeup put on now, so I slipped out."

Harry drank down the still very hot potion. It burned his throat a little, but immediately his headache started to fade. He handed the goblet back to Ginny with a smile. "Thanks, that was brilliant. I feel so much better."

Ginny grinned more openly at him. As she put the goblet in her bag she pulled out a ridiculously large bottle of water and handed it to him. "You need to drink this before the ceremony."

Harry choked. "You've got to be kidding me. It'll take hours to drink all that!"

"Harry the first potion removed most of the effects of the alcohol from your body, and the second one took away your headache, but you're dehydrated and if you don't drink this, it'll just come back. Don't argue with me, just drink it." She gave him a defiant look before wilting slightly. "Please."

He definitely was thirsty. Harry took the bottle of water and gulped greedily from it. After several swallows he returned the cap to its home and put it aside. "I'll do my best."

Ginny nodded. "Let's see if we can't get your suit straightened out. You look like you got dressed in the dark." She walked up to him and flipped the collar of his shirt up and after a few minutes of trying to arrange his tie, pulled it off him completely. "Who tied this?" Ginny asked in aggravation.

"Bill did it, with a knot tying charm," Harry answered.

Ginny huffed. "You'd think at least one of my brothers could learn to dress themselves, or failing that, that you could."

Harry was momentarily stung by her criticism, then considering it for a moment shrugged. She was right; he had no clue what he was doing when he got dressed up like this."

"Take your jacket off, she ordered.

Harry complied, and her first order was quickly followed. "Vest too."

Ginny started straightening his shirt. It tickled slightly where her fingers tucked in his shirt and where she grasped it to tug at it. She fixed his French cuffs, and then had him side the vest back on. Harry was fine until she started retying the tie. She was standing quite close to him, and her tongue was peeking out of her mouth as she concentrated on making the knot and getting it straight. Harry couldn't help but look at her, while she was so close and concentrating on something else. Her eyes were so gentle and caring. At this range he could clearly make out the different layers of freckles across her nose.

"You really do look amazing," Harry finally told her.

Ginny's concentration broke and she looked up at him sharply, clearly startled. "I, uh…um, thank you. I mean it's just the hair, Hermione had a professional come in to do it this morning," She explained fidgeting in front of him. "Drat I lost my place." She unfurled the tie, and started again as Harry watched her.

"It's not just the hair," Harry offered.

Ginny glanced up at him, and their eyes locked for a few moments. Harry felt his head being tugged forward by the end of the tie that Ginny was holding. He could feel Ginny's breath on his neck, and he thought for a moment that she was going to kiss him. He risked a glance at her lips and saw that they were slightly parted invitingly. Harry slowly trailed his eyes back to hers and found an inscrutable expression held in them, and then she returned to working the ends of his tie. Finishing the knot she stuck the end of the tie down Harry's vest and then ran her hand up the inside of his vest to straighten it. As she ran her hand across his abs this time, it felt somehow different.

Harry moaned slightly as Ginny's hand ran round his back. She reached up with her other hand and started to gently straighten his hair. It felt like a moment from sixth year. Like everything that had managed to work its way between them had been washed away. Harry swallowed hard, as he concentrated on where Ginny's warmth was pressed up against him. It wouldn't be so bad if he kissed her would it? Why had he made that stupid promise to Ron?

"There, that should work," Ginny stated in a strained voice. She looked back into Harry's eyes again and he slipped his own arm behind her to match the one she continued to hold him with.

"Thanks,"

"You're welcome." The words sounded strangled as Ginny said them, but he could hear her clearly.

Harry leaned forward and Ginny's head tilted back slightly, before there was a white flash and Harry turned to see a white otter, and Hermione's panicked voice rang from it. "Ginny! Where are you! It's almost time for pictures, and I can't find my shoes. My checklist is missing, and I definitely think I need to talk to my Mum, but I can't find her, and I can't send my Patronus after her!"

"Oh bugger, Hermione!" Ginny gasped. She looked at her watch. "I was supposed to get back ages ago. Ginny turned to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I've got to run, I'll catch up with you at the reception. You have to dance with me, don't forget!"

Ginny was a tornado of activity as he picked up the two bags in front of the desk, and stormed through the door. She turned around at the last second and told him. "Don't forget to drink your water, you need it. Bye!"

She left Harry leaning against Angelina Houston's desk, much better off than when she found him, and far more confused.

* * *

"Where's Percy?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, he said he'd be here," Bill replied.

"We are supposed to start pictures in five minutes. Hermione will kill him if he's late," Ron grumbled. "Not to mention me."

"He'll be here. You know Perc, always has to act like he's more important than he is," Charlie added.

"Harry, where did you get that? And why are you drinking it?" Ron asked.

"Ginny gave it to me, she said it would help with the hangover."

"That's rubbish, didn't Charlie give you a nip from his flask? That'll fix your hangover."

"Ginny says that doesn't work," Harry replied.

"Oh well, _Ginny says_, far be it from me, to contradict the all-knowing Ginny." Ron smirked at him. "Wait, how did Ginny even know you were hung-over, she was long gone by the time you rolled out of bed.

Harry shrugged. "I reckon she guessed, she found us when we stumbled out of the fire last night. She levitated you up to your room."

Ron scratched his head. "I don't remember that. Of course I don't remember anything after Charlie gave me that stupid Dragon's Breath." Ron looked skeptically at Harry. "So she just happened to bring some water while she was supposed to be helping Hermione get ready?" Ron asked accusingly.

"Yep," Harry replied.

"You're not going all sweet on Ginny again are you?" Ron questioned with a glare.

George who was sitting on the sofa growled menacingly, but Harry had no idea as to why. Neville who was sitting next to him, had a brief coughing fit, as he turned his head away. He appeared to be laughing.

Harry sighed, and was about to answer Ron's question when there was another knock on the door. Charlie answered and Mrs. Weasley strode into the room wearing a ghastly floral print dress.

"It's time for pictures, boys, out you go," Mrs. Weasley ordered.

"Have you seen Percy?" Ron asked.

"He's not here?"

Ron shook his head.

"Oh, that boy!" Mrs. Weasley frowned.

"Mum you're not seriously going to wear that in the wedding photo's are you?" Ron asked.

"What?" Mrs. Weasley's frown deepened. "What do you mean, Ronald?"

"Well it's just, I mean, well isn't that kind of ugly?" Ron asked carefully.

"RONALD WEASLEY! What a thing to say to your mother. I'll have you know that this is the latest in Muggle fashions! Abigail helped me pick it out herself."

"You sure she wasn't having you on, Mum?" George asked.

"Yes George, I'm quite sure. It's not like you boys are experts on Muggle fashions. Arthur thinks it's lovely," Mrs. Weasley sniffed her held high.

"I don't know, I spend a lot of time around Muggle women, and I don't see them wearing anything like that," George replied.

"Oh you do not. You spend your time hunched over your work desk at the office. Time with Muggle women my eye. You need a nice witch to settle down with, that's what you need."

"Mum, I have a girlfriend you know that!" George replied angrily. "Harmony is a Muggle, we've being going out for two years."

"Why then, in two years have you not brought this girl by the Burrow? I'm not buying it, George, if she meant anything to you; you would have introduced her to your family."

"Bill and Percy have both met her. I can't very well just bring her by the Burrow."

"Well why isn't she here then. This is a Muggle wedding after all." Mrs. Weasley barked.

"But the reception is at home, and I couldn't very well bring her to the wedding and then send her home for the reception could I?" George barked back.

"You could have gotten a waver of the Statute of Secrecy. If you really care about her, we'd know her by now," Mrs. Weasley replied angrily.

"We've been over this!" George cried. "The ministry won't give her waver because her father is considered dangerous to wizards. Some sort of military general or something. I've tried three times, but they won't give me a waver unless we're married. I can't very well marry her unless I tell her who I am first!"

"Well isn't that convenient, how are you ever supposed to have any children then? I won't be young forever you know."

"Mum, the pictures?" Ron interrupted.

"Oh, right, all of you into the hall right now. We're running late as it is. For some reason Ginny disappeared and Hermione nearly went out of her mind before we found her."

Harry followed the group along the hallway until they reached the great hall where the wedding was to be held.

"Mum's really got a bee in her bonnet today," George muttered to Charlie behind him.

"You know Mum, she loves these events, but oh Merlin the stress get to her. She'll be better tomorrow."

"Yeah. I guess, I wish she'd lay off on the whole girlfriend thing."

"You have to admit it's pretty dodgy going out with someone for two years without telling them you're a wizard."

"I didn't know it was going to be a problem when we started going out. Now… I don't want to break up with her. I can't tell her. I think maybe she's the one, but we can't get married until she knows I'm a wizard. I've got no clue what to do."

"You could always just tell her anyway, then Obliviate her if it doesn't go well," Charlie suggested.

"I'm not Obliviating my girlfriend," George muttered dismissively.

Harry stopped listening as they walked forward into the hall. His eyes passed briefly over his friend Hermione who was wearing a very pretty wedding gown, but she wasn't who he was searching for. His eyes found Ginny and once they did, he couldn't look away. She was dressed in a shimmering green dress that matched his tie. Her hair, which had been beautiful when she'd been dressed comfortably before, now looked radiant when matched with her dress. Harry was in awe.

Sliding up next to him, Neville asked. "She cleans up nicely doesn't she? I hope she'll give me a few dances at the reception."

Harry didn't know why, but for some reason the thought of Ginny dancing with Neville made him feel sick and more than slightly angry. But he managed to grumble out a, "Yeah," in response, instead of tackling him and pummeling him within an inch of his life. Harry owed him far too much for that kind of treatment. Inexplicably, Harry found his feet traveling forward until he was standing at the bottom of the steps his eyes never leaving Ginny. She was watching him now, and seemed slightly amused. Ron and Hermione were off in the corner having a moment and Ginny slowly made her way towards him stepping carefully down the steps until she was standing on the one just above him.

"You look quite dashing," she told him.

"You look gorgeous," Harry replied. When Ginny grinned he realized what he'd said and moved to hedge a bit. "Just incredible really." That wasn't what he meant to say at all. What was wrong with him? "I've never seen you look so beautiful." Harry decided he better stop talking, before he said something really embarrassing.

Ginny's eyes looked watery as she reached out a hand for his shoulder. "Thank you, Harry. I'd started to wonder if you still thought of me that way. It's nice to know that you still…well that you still see me as…well it's just nice. But if you don't stop I'm going to cry and Hermione will lose it if I ruin this make-up now."

"I…" Harry tried. He had no clue what to say.

"Hello Harry," said Luna as she appeared at Harry's side.

"Hi Luna, you look really nice." Harry tried.

"Oh, thank you. You look nice as well. Of course it's a wedding so everyone looks nice. Well except for Ronald's mother, she looks like a Renoir exploded on her."

Ginny snickered, but said nothing.

"Uh yeah,"

"Okay, can I get people to gather around for a bit, were going to start with some of the group shots." A squat man Harry took to be the photographer called out. Harry couldn't help but notice that when they all stood in a semicircle waiting to be called onto the stairs, that Ginny stood right next to him. It was a very interesting hour or so of watching her pose for the camera. She looked amazing up there. There was an odd ache in Harry's chest, now all too familiar to him. He felt it whenever he felt alone. It had never felt stronger than right now standing here surrounded by all his best friends, and the girl he'd given up.

_A/N: I know, two years later and still no Gabrielle, she's coming I sort of promise. I'll give you like half a pinky swear, but no more than that!_


End file.
